Since 2007 the University of New Mexico has been embroiled in a controversy so tired it boggles the mind to see academics perpetuate it: slut-shaming. The controversy stems from anonymous "appalled parents" objecting to a cash-strapped tenured professor's choice to seek employment at a BDSMphone sex fantasy line. In the eyes of anons and a legion of people who only possess purported "facts" trotted out by the media, the professor, Lisa Chavez, "is now somehow permanently tainted," Amy Letter observes.

A seriously misguided Indonesian legislator, Bambang Bayu Suseno, has proposed that access to public education be restricted only to girls who’re virgins. I wish I were exaggerating, but I'm not. According to a report by Jon Afrizal, Suseno asked, "Why are girls who lose their virginity allowed to go to public school?" Clearly, Mr. Suseno is suffering from a poor education in the matters of basic human rights, which guarantees every human being the right to access public education whether they are a virgin or not.

His rationale? "Parents are obviously afraid of their daughters being deflowered before the time comes, so [girls] can undergo the virginity test and automatically protect their dignity." Um. What about boys? And, human rights violations aside, exactly how virginity will be determined is unsurprisingly undefined. This is yet another example of the harm caused by sexist notions of purity.

A second legislative victory for gay rights was won as America's homophobic Don't Ask, Don't Tell law was again ruled unconstitutional. Despite the law's name, even if you're never asked and you never tell you can still lose your career in the military. That's what happened to Maj. Margaret Witt in 2006, whose case formed a legal precedent around DADT when Judge Ronald Leighton found her discharge legally binding. On Friday, however, "Judge Ronald Leighton ruled in favor of military nurse Maj. Margaret Witt, and said that she was constitutionally entitled to be reinstated to the military," Jean Williams reports.

"It has been an anti-noble lie that gays and lesbians are a threat to military morale," Williams writes, noting Leighton "looked into the case and focused on Maj. Witt’s individual record" instead of looking only at DADT myopically. Leighton's decision expressly opposes claims that gay service-members reduce unit morale or cohesion.

In a remarkably well thought out and thorough response to the conversation around whether there are similarities between this story of kidnapping and sexual abuse and the actions of the BDSM community, Thomas MacAulay Millar speaks out clearly to remind every one that, no – it is not. BDSM is not unethical behavior, and unethical behavior is not BDSM. Millar sets out a 4 point code of Ethical BDSM, reminding us that: it is unethical (and unconstitutional) to ever have an irrevocable master/slave relationship; it's unethical to leverage existing vulnerability or power imbalance into a BDSM relationship; it is unethical to do things beyond your ability as a Top; it is unethical to do things to people that they don't have enough information to make an informed decision about. He continues by calling the BDSM community to action to be more responsible for speaking up about abuse, within and outside of the community.

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Showcasing how ignorance is a life-threatening, clear and present danger, a "Virginia school district is considering banning cross-gender dressing in a move proponents said aims to protect students from harassment," Matthew Ward reports. The ban is being considered "after teachers […] said some male students were dressing like girls, prompting complaints from other students." Although […]

@WickedGrounds is closed today. We are very sorry for any inconvenience. That tweet went out two Wednesdays ago. It was at once cryptic and unsurprising. On the one hand, it might just mean wha... Continue reading "S.F. Loses a BDSM Community Hub with the Closing of Wicked Grounds Coffeehouse" >

A lesbian high school couple in San Diego was crowned Homecoming king and queen before a cheering crowd of their peers Friday night. Rebeca Arellano also made history as Patrick Henry High School's first female homecoming king. Her girlfriend Haileigh Adams won the title of homecoming queen. The pair have been dating since February of […]

Wisconsin school districts offering sex education courses won't be required to teach about birth control if a bill co-sponsored by a Republican Wausau lawmaker is approved.The legislation, introduced by New Berlin Republican state Sen. Mary Lazich and supported by state Sen. Pam Galloway, would roll back an existing state law that prohibits school districts from […]

The National Organization For Marriage (NOM) is an anti-gay group that has gone to great lengths in hopes of ensuring that marriage remains between one man and one woman. Lately its members have turned their attention to New Hampshire, where Republican lawmakers are working to repeal the 15-month old gay marriage law passed by the […]

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